Big Spring Lays Out the Red Carpet for Mexico Sister City

2010-07-02T23:19:18Z2010-07-03T01:23:56Z

by Victor LopezNewsWest 9

BIG SPRING--The Heritage Museum served as the backdrop for a meeting of the minds on Friday as city officials welcomed their counterparts from their sister city in Mexico to exchange ideas on technology, business and culture.

According to Mayor Tommy Duncan, "I'm very proud of our sister city. They've traveled over 20 hours through torrential rains to come. We're very proud to welcome them to Big Heart, Big Sky, Big Spring."

For Mayor Duncan, two seems to be the magic number. Two recently elected city leaders, meeting in this second year of the sister city relationship between Big Spring and San Miguel de los Altos, Jalisco, Mexico.

"We talked (Thursday) night about our relationship being a reminder of the song "Dos Arbolitos." Two trees next to each other, caressing each other with their branches, showing love. We have big love for our sister city, San Miguel de los Altos. Apparently, they have equal feelings for us," Duncan said.

This was the first visit for the Mexican Mayor and his entourage. He and his Big Spring counterpart hope this will continue to develop into a fruitful relationship.

"We just hope to assist each other and be able to help each other in any way that we can," Duncan said.

It was no coincidence that the trip was planned on 4th of July weekend. Officials from both cities say they're not going to let this rainy weather ruin any of the things they've got planned.

Isella Muñoz, wife of the San Miguel Mayor, was born and raised in California. She has dual citizenship in both countries and is happy to be back in the states after almost 2 decades.

"I help my husband understand what it is to be an American, the way of life here in the United States. That has helped him to understand the importance of the way people live in the United States," Muñoz said.

Since the first year, the cities have exchanged gifts with one another. It's a gesture that has a deeper meaning than most people realize.

"Exchange of culture, business-wise, everything is of huge importance. There is a lot of exchange that we can help each other out," Muñoz said.

"The communication and cooperation we have is hard to express in words. We're truly sisters and we are there to help each other in any way we can," Duncan said.